Genetic Engineering and Gene Therapy

Study Notes

Genetic engineering is the controlled manipulation of genes to change the genetic makeup of cells and transfer genes across species boundaries.
Gene therapy involves altering genes inside body cells to treat or stop diseases.
Gene therapy involves removing a desirable gene from a cell, adding it to a bacterial cell, and replacing the recombinant DNA into the bacterial cell to produce the protein produced by the original animal or plant cell.

Stem cells are a special kind of cell that can differentiate into more than one kind of tissue.
Stem cell therapy focuses on using stem cells to treat or prevent diseases or conditions.
Stem cells are used to cure various diseases such as diabetes, arthritis, certain cancers, and bone marrow failure.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms that live in an ecosystem.
Biodiversity provides essential services such as food, clean drinking water, air, medicines, and shelter.
Human activities such as deforestation, overfishing, and direct harvesting have negatively impacted biodiversity.

Warning signs of environmental contamination include deformation of illnesses, death of natural populations, and increased frequency of diseases.
Examples of environmental contamination include the decline of frog populations, reproductive cycle disruption in birds, deaths and population declines of birds and fish, and contaminated waters.

Climate change refers to the change in global or regional patterns, particularly the rise in average surface temperatures on Earth.
The main cause of current global warming trend is human expansion of the "greenhouse effect" due to burning fossil fuels.
Climate change encompasses changes such as sea level rise, ice mass loss, shifts in flower/plant blooming, and extreme weather events.

Environmental education aims to provide awareness and sensitivity to the environment and environmental challenges.
The components of environmental education include knowledge and understanding of the environment, attitudes of concern for the environment, skills to identify and help resolve environmental challenges, and participation in activities that lead to the resolution of environmental problems.
The benefits of environmental education include heightened imagination and enthusiasm, learning that transcends the classroom, critical and creative thinking, and responsible action to better the environment.